The Case of the Beautiful Woman
by jack63kids
Summary: ACD Canon story set shortly after Dr Watson is married. He and Holmes are in touch but not sharing as many cases. Holmes comes to Dr Watson's surgery one blustery night to share his misgivings about a puzzling case with few conclusive clues and fewer witnesses.
1. Part 1: A Puzzling Case

_**I dedicate this first story of mine in the original Sherlock Holmes canon to Ennui Enigma, without whom I wouldn't have considered going into a time warp and trying to follow in the footsteps of the great Arthur Conan Doyle. Thanks for all your suggestions and corrections, couldn't have got there without you. Many of the quotes and salutes to the original ACD canon are down to her.**_  
_**I hope that at least some of this little tale ring true with lovers of the original canon.**_

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**_How often have I said to you that when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?_**** - Sherlock Holmes**

**Part 1:****_ The Case of the Beautiful Woman_**

During my long acquaintance with the celebrated detective, Sherlock Holmes, there were extended periods when I did not see my friend and colleague for some time. I am not talking now of when Holmes had feigned his own death in order to pursue a criminal gang and so ensure his friends' safety, but times when he was absent from my life for several weeks at a time with no word of his whereabouts. The most frequent periods of his absence, indeed, were during the early years of my marriage.

My wife and I did all we could do to make Holmes welcome and she had told him on more than one occasion that he could visit us at anytime. We respected that he was a very private man and that he preferred solitude to company, so we left him to his bachelor life in the main.

I was working as a general practitioner in those days and Holmes called on me infrequently at my surgery to enquire after my health or share some puzzling aspect of a new case. One such occasion was a windy evening when my last few clients must have thought better of braving the storm brewing and had not showed for their planned appointments. Holmes had slipped in before the rain had started and by the time we were snuggled up in front of the fire in my consulting room, the wind was up and the rain was coming down in earnest and there was no chance of escaping home to a hot meal cooked by my wife.

Holmes was always a gentleman where it came to the fairer sex, though I have never known him to take an interest in any woman beyond the confines of an investigation, except perhaps one, but that on an intellectual level as far as could be told. He treated all the vulnerable who came to his apartments with equal deference and concern, owing more to their perceived worth, than class or position, as other mere mortals would have. I have witnessed my friend snubbing a Duke, whereas a street urchin is treated with deference and respect in the chambers of Mr Holmes, as long as he is an honest one.

Holmes settled himself into a chair in front of the fire. "Chambers came to see me about a peculiar matter some weeks past. You remember the man, Watson?"

"Oh yes, indeed, fine man, keeper of the keys at the women's wing of Holloway Prison last I heard. And how is _Mrs_ Chambers, Holmes?"

"Oh blooming, by all accounts; replete with a twelfth heir to the Chambers inheritance. The prospective father says they had always counted on a round dozen - a baker's dozen and more if they carry on at that rate." Holmes smiled pleasantly at the thought that his good friend, who had brought much work our way over the years, was having such a rewarding life.

"Chambers wanted to bring to me a potential case", he continued, "though he said that the client would be a most reluctant one. A certain Mrs Doolittle of King Street is residing at the prison, accused of murdering both her husband and the local Vicar, the incumbent of St Peter's until his untimely death.

The young couple had moved to the area some eighteen months prior to the unfortunate demise of the two aforementioned gentlemen. Mr Doolittle had been a baker with a small shop below their residence where Mrs Doolittle had sold the products of her husband's industrious nature. They were making a reasonable living and had a good reputation for the quality of their breads and baked goods and the honesty of their dealings with the general public.

"Some months past, Mr Doolittle attended Holy Communion with his wife at St Peter's and promptly collapsed and died at the altar rail. Other communicants testified that his eyes turned black and he had a most demonic look on his face as his wife leant over to hear what turned out to be his dying words. A local physician, one Dr Smallwood, had stepped forward to try to help the unfortunate victim and heard him say just audibly, 'You did this, you have killed me', directly looking at his wife as he spoke.

"I believe that Smallwood worked for some time at St Barts. Did you make his acquaintance there?"

"Oh yes, I know Smallwood. Petty little man, but knows the trade, not killed as many as some, at least."

"So we can trust his testimony then, Watson?"

"I see no reason not to. Why would he fabricate the final words of a dying man? I can see no profit in it for him. "

"In reporting those words, immediately following the death, Smallwood made no accusations nor did he attempt to accuse the widow, as she now was, of any impropriety. Indeed, he described the symptoms as being that of a stroke, the peculiarity of the eyes, the victim clutching his heart just prior to collapse and having slurred speech. The inspector who interviewed those concerned did not suspect any foul play and put the man's outburst down to over excitement during the brain storm that killed him.

"He had reason to question his initial assessment when the Vicar of the parish died, just prior to the husband's funeral. The verger, who had found the dying man in the vestry following evensong, described the same symptoms; dilated pupils, palpitations, and slurred speech. The Rev called out to him, 'I have seen the very devil in widow's weeds!' before expiring in convulsions. A challis was found later upturned under the choir stalls." With a touch of his customary sarcasm, Holmes continued, "Naturally the local constabulary had done all they could to destroy as much evidence as humanly possible. If only Lestrade had not been in Essex visiting family."

"That seems more than coincidence, Holmes", I said, "And hearing the symptoms of the first and knowing Smallwood as I do, I would want to look more closely at those bodies. As for the diagnosis, I could not say for sure without hearing more - as you rightly say, Holmes, you cannot make bricks without clay. On the surface they seem to fit the diagnosis of Dr Chambers, but we both know there is more than one explanation. A concentrated dose of belladonna would induce the same effect. I am in no doubt that the deaths of these men are linked by more than proximity and that the one may well have led to the other."

"Ah, Watson, my good man, you have anticipated some vital evidence that I withheld from you. Following a visit to the home of the Doolittles the constabulary came across all the paraphernalia required to distill a lethal dose of belladonna poison, which our grieving widow claimed was a beauty product. I see that you have spotted the initial erroneous assumption made by the police. I trust you will deduce their second mistake and are not well on your way to walking down the same path in pursuit of the error number two."

"What can you mean?" I asked, perplexed at the leap in logic that went beyond my comprehension.

"Why simply that you have wit enough to see the error that the investigators came to after the first death and are not so quick to follow the mistakes of their second attempt; that the same means were employed for both a murder and a suicide in the unhappy parish of St Peter's. For that is the erroneous conclusion that our local inspector came to."

Holmes shifted in his seat and I realized that I had ignored the social niceties in not offering my dearest friend any hospitality.

"A drink Holmes? It seems my last client has thought better than to seek the tender touch of this old saw bones. My time is now my own again. We can take up our old position at the Green Dragon, it's only a step away, and we have overcoats that would keep out a Delhi monsoon. Or I have a rather fine bottle of single malt, a present from a satisfied customer on the successful birth of his twin boys last month. My wife wasn't expecting me to finish up here for a while and she will assume that I am weathering the storm, holed up here, if the telling takes much longer."

Holmes indicated that the bottle would be his preferred course of action and we settled into a companionable silence, giving our full attention to a masterpiece of drinks.

It was some minutes before Holmes resumed his tale, none of which sounded as intriguing as he'd led me to believe thus far.

"So what about this has caught your eye and why did Chambers see fit to bring such a dull case to your attention?" I asked. "Surely he has seen many prisoners in his time who have similar tales to tell of circumstantial evidence bringing them through his doors?"

"Indeed he has," Holmes said with feeling, "But none so striking in appearance as the widow Doolittle."

"But he's a man married in the most happy circumstances, surely you're not suggesting that he wishes to save this woman for himself?"

"Yes indeed, most happy circumstances," Holmes reflected, "And I - a man married to his work - and yet, the womanly wiles of Mrs Doolittle are not beyond the ken of this confirmed bachelor, Watson." And I realized that even the Great Detective, as long as our acquaintance had been, could still surprise me.

"There was also the circumstances of death of the Rev Hart. You will recall, Watson, how a locked room will pique my interest in an otherwise unremarkable case."

"Ah yes, Holmes," I recalled, "there are several of your more celebrated cases where the proof of guilt rested on how a murderer came and went through a locked door to carry out his devilish purpose. I take it in this case there were no snakes nor a mongoose involved in the adventure?"

"No indeed," Holmes admitted, "There was not. Though those cases as well as that in which your dear wife was introduced into our acquaintance have made me overly suspicious of suicide and death by fright being too easy an explanation for death behind locked doors. I believe it may have more in common with that little conundrum brought to us by a certain Dr Trevelyan in that there was a trial and a sentencing that was executed."

We replenished our glasses as Holmes confessed that though he had gleaned many facts about the case he had been unable to interview the accused who refused to speak to anyone. "She has at the last moment relented and agreed to see me first thing tomorrow while the court sessions are postponed for the weekend. I would be very much obliged if you would accompany me there, Watson, if you can spare the time?"


	2. Part 2: The Widow's Tale

**_Thanks to everyone for their kind reviews. I've not been so anxious about posting a story since my first. Feeling less thanks to all you good people. _**

**_Special mention again goes to Ennui Enigma, without whom this story would not even exist as a vague idea._**

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**_"Women are naturally secretive, and they like to do their own secreting."_**** - Sherlock Holmes**  
**― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes**

**Part 2: ****_The Widow's Tale_**

When we arrived at her cell the following morning. Mrs Doolittle was sitting with her hands neatly folded in her lap, looking, for all the world as my colleague pointed out, like she was in a doctor's waiting room. "A little apprehensive, you'll forgive the allusion Watson, but not all of the medical profession are as gentle with the ladies as you are yourself and more than one otherwise healthy person has fallen foul of certain quacks who practice in our capital."

I smiled back at Holmes. It was one of his hobbies to tease me about my chosen profession as he believed that the age of science had passed by the treatment of the human body and we were still at a stage close to witch doctoring in the main.

She looked up expectantly when we entered her cell and I was confronted by the kind of eyes that make most men's heart beat faster and the angelic face of a woman that they immediately want to defend from all comers.

Holmes had spoken to Gladstone, who had taken on the case, and knew that his biggest stumbling block in court had been her insistence, up to that point at least, not to defend herself in any way at all. She had said nothing other than that she was innocent of killing her husband but refused to say anything about the Vicar who had died under similar circumstances though with no witnesses, save one. A sidesman who was leaving evensong a little later than the general congregation, had seen the accused furtively fleeing the vestry shortly before the dying man was found by the verger. The trial was not yet over, so both Chambers and Gladstone saw hope in Holmes' involvement and I joined their conviction that something should be done for the unhappy woman.

I am not sure what made her tell her story to me and Holmes.

As my friend said later. "As you know, I do not have the same natural understanding and sympathy for the fairer sex as you do, Watson. Something made her tell her tale in unexpected detail, however. I imagine your presence had more than a little to do with this. Your close and sincere attendance to her predicament was masterly, Watson."

It is hard to explain to my good friend that any concern on my part is genuine and not a device to glean the most for a case. He is not inhuman, as has been suggested by certain members of the press, but his ability to be impartial has lead him to being more removed from passionate feelings than most men.

I shall relate to you, in her own words, what occurred during the few months that she and her husband had come to Hammersmith along with Holmes' own observations made to me when we retired to my rooms later that day.

"William and I came to Hammersmith just prior to Easter last, Mr Holmes. We had been married not quite three months by then, and had to move away from Barking so that William could start out on his own, away from his father's business, or they would have been in direct competition. William wasn't the eldest, though the only one who had inherited his father's ways with dough. The business was to have gone to his eldest brother, Samuel, whom everyone assumed would likely sell it immediately to fuel his lifestyle."

Mrs Doolittle was reticent about explaining further, but it became obvious from what she was saying and the phrases she used to described her brother in law, that he had 'gone to the dogs' and bet all his father's money on various greyhounds that had not met their promise and was now after the family business to continue to live in the same manner. It was likely that drink was involved, as well as the shadier side of East End street life.

"William's uncle had connections in the Hammersmith area and found the position for us then gave us part of his inheritance early in order to secure the lease, his uncle having no children of his own owing to the early demise of his beloved wife after a long illness. He has always treated my William as the son he never had and would take me in as his daughter in a heartbeat."

_Holmes commented to me later: "I could not help wondering why it was that William's uncle had not approached me himself about his niece-in-law's predicament. But more of that later, Watson."_

"Naturally, we attended the services during the Easter period and made the acquaintance of many of the good people of Hammersmith, including the Reverend Canon Hart, Vicar of the parish of St Peter's. Shortly after we arrived Rev Hart sought William out to take over as Churchwarden since the previous warden had succumbed to an illness which did not show signs of abating as the doctors had at first predicted.

"Rev Hart seemed to take a great interest in William's business and person and he visited us frequently, though more and more often he mistimed when he was most likely to find William in residence and once or twice I wondered how they did not meet on the road, when William had left some moments before the Rev's habitual knock sounded at our door. On occasion these visits coincided with William's duties as churchwarden," Mrs Doolittle shrugged her delicate shoulders and raised her beautiful eyes to look at us with an expression of innocence, "so I am at a loss to comprehend why the Vicar was so poor in his timing."

_Holmes poured us both another glass and I commented, "You can be sure that I have little doubt concerning the Rev's lack of good timing, Holmes. Mrs Doolittle, unlike many women of her fair features and deportment, appeared to have no recognition of her obvious attraction to the opposite sex." My friend nodded thoughtfully at my intercession. But on with the widow's tale._

"At first it was pleasant to have the Rev call round, and we shared some pleasant times talking about botany, which is a particular interest of mine since being a young girl. I did find his lack of sensitivity over ... well, to be frank, Mr Holmes, he was too free with his blessings and had to remind him on more than one occasion that if I wanted the laying on of hands then there was a perfectly good church of the Scottish Presbyterian persuasion not two and twenty minutes walk away down King Street.

"And then one evening just after he came to call, my William came back to fetch his cap as the weather was unseasonably cool and found the Rev forcing his attentions where they were not wanted. My William is a - was - a gentle man, Mr Holmes. We have known each other since my father brought us to Barking following my mother's death some ten years since and I had never seen him so excited. The following week we walked the extra distance to attend St Paul's, a walk of no more than about a mile, but it seemed strange to anyone who knew our habits that we would go out of our way with a perfectly good church no more than a few steps from our door.

"Following our non attendance, the Rev made a point of visiting to speak to my husband and, following their brief discussion, while I made a tray of drinks, we resumed our attendance of St Peter's. I admit to feeling relieved, as the vicar of St Paul's can be rather long winded when he gets into the pulpit and the business opportunities of keeping in with the congregation so near to our little shop - well, Mr Holmes, one does have to think of business in this day and age.

"On the surface, everything seemed to have returned to normal. The Rev was keeping a respectful distance and my husband seemed to have forgiven his intrusion into our happy home. The Rev seems to have had other ideas, however, and on the fateful day when my husband died, he whispered hotly into my ear while I was receiving the sacrament. I did not catch all his words, being in a state of grace, but it was clear that he was not blessing the challis when he spoke and I heard him clearly say '... and then you shall be mine.' "

_"You will of course note, Watson, from this exchange that Mrs Doolittle was by upbringing a Roman Catholic and had most likely followed her husband's preference of a place of worship once they had married. It is not relevant to the matter in hand, however, but it is worth exercising the tools of our profession."_

_Naturally, I had not noted any such thing and Holmes was perfectly aware that my chosen profession and his were not one and the same. I shall let that go however and proceed with the telling of Mrs Doolittle's tale._

"My husband was the next to receive the Eucharist from his hand, and you know the rest," she told us.

"And would it have been possible for the Vicar to have administered the poison to the challis the moment you had supped?" Holmes asked her.

She nodded reluctantly in reply.

"And where was the Rev Hart standing at the moment that your husband collapsed?"

"Why, just over the altar rail from my husband, from whom he had just taken the challis -"

"And who do you now believe that Mr Doolittle was looking at when he spoke his final words, Mrs Doolittle?"

"I ... I'm sure I don't know. He seemed to be looking right at me, accusing me of ... oh, I thought he knew ... I could never have harmed a hair on his head ... and then I looked up to see the Rev standing over us both..."

"And why are you not on the stand proclaiming your innocence?" I asked reasonably.

"Because, it is self evident, whomever my husband was accusing, that I was the cause of his demise, Doctor Watson. And I must pay for being the agent of the devil and making myself a widow."


	3. Part 3: The Compromise

**_The odds are enormous against its being coincidence. No figures could express them. No, my dear Watson, the two events are connected — must be connected. It is for us to find the connection_**** - Sherlock Holmes **

**Part 3: ****_The Compromise_**

It was the following morning, my surgery does not open on a Sunday, when Holmes are I were next able to meet to discuss developments in the Doolittle case. We made cozy in front of the fire once more.

"Well, obviously she is no more guilty of her husband's death than you or I, Holmes," I said. "How could such a gentle soul be responsible for acts of evil? But as for the Vicar's death, does she have an explanation for that?"

Holmes smiled. "Ah, no indeed. She does not. Which could lead a man to one of three conclusions. That she is innocent of all charges and has no idea how the events described came to pass. That she is guilty and keeping the facts of the actual explanation from the investigative mind. Or that she knows who killed her husband and is defending them or scared to come forward. Which do you believe that I have settled upon, Watson?"

"Ah, Holmes, would that your reasoning was as simply predicted as the actions of the populous. I can tell you which I would have landed on myself and then you can tell me where I have made the gravest errors. Let me refresh your glass while you deplore my skills in deduction."

I sat back in my chair and continued, "I'd say that on balance I would lean towards the former option. Why would a woman who refuses to speak up for herself not tell the tale of the challis to her legal representative do you suppose? I can only surmise that she feels the guilt of her husband's death most acutely but doesn't bear the sin of it."

Holmes took a sip from his glass and nodded slowly. "Indeed that is much the conclusion that I came to myself and the belief I evidenced in court earlier this week. I have since had reason to question that view." He replaced his glass carefully on the table. "The case that I had prepared for the courts centred on the impossibility of her gaining entry to the vestry in the means described by the prosecution, that of using the set of keys held by the churchwarden. In the original falling out between husband and cleric, her husband had handed in his set of church keys. This situation remained to the certain knowledge of the verger who saw them on the vestry table during the morning's services. She would not have been able to let herself quietly in as suggested in evidence by the prosecution."

"I cannot see how that exonerates her, Holmes. After all, church doors are seldom locked on Sunday evenings."

"Indeed, there are many ways that women like Mrs Doolittle can gain entry to a building or locked room. You perceive correctly that my defense of her is flawed. I could see no other way of being certain to prevent an innocent woman from swinging. My reputation means that others are too ready to accept my pronouncements on what a piece of evidence might mean.

"You cannot blame Lestrade, however, for leaping on a version of events that would clear such a comely and well-spoken young woman and presenting them to the judge as proof when they are merely removing one possible means of entry. Nor can you blame the judge for allowing himself to be persuaded and so rid himself of the hideous nightmare of watching that fair neck snapped on the end of the rope.

"Since leaving the court on Thursday last, however, I have made all haste to dig deeper into the background and circumstances of Mrs Doolittle to see what more could be done. I have spoken to several other players about the widow Doolittle. None of her relations nor acquaintances has stepped up to give witness to her good character nor to plead her case in any way.

"You will note that none of the players saw fit to remove all stain from her character. Perhaps they saw the dangers of her continued existence in society. And indeed she is a dangerous woman, if only for what she induces men to do for her sake. And it gives me no great pleasure to include myself in that damming statement, Watson."

"What can you mean, Holmes? Surely you did no more that the London constabulary would have done in the circumstances if they had been blessed with your knowledge and abilities? Goodness knows, you had little enough to go on with the what information the lady was prepared to confide in us and the scant evidence available from the crime scenes. I know that Inspector Lestrade would dearly like to have your skills with deducing from such few facts. With your wit and skill they would soon have their cases solved and all be home for tea."

"Ah, but I broke my own rules, Watson, don't you see? Haven't I always told you that I never guess? That it is a shocking habit - destructive to the logical faculty? Yet, it seems that in this case all concern for logic was throw to the four winds. Can it be possible that I let her demeanour influence my own deliberations?"

Holmes seemed to be talking to himself at that point and I offered neither condolence nor requested further explanation.

"I have systematically refused to eliminate the factors which do not fit the case; keeping those that prove innocence and rejecting all others. There is a perfectly good explanation for all the facts of the case, Watson, and I refused to entertain it. The facts, strung together in a logical sequence by an unbiased mind, lead to the conclusion that she is a cold blooded murderess and has cynically planned the demise of at least three souls and the suffering and downfall of several others."

"Who else can you mean, Holmes?" I said in a state of considerable agitation. "Is there a tale that you have not presented; as I cannot see it."

"Ah, Watson, good and moral men find it so much harder to see the evil evident in others - a malady that I have not suffered greatly from, except on very few occasions, this being one such lamentable instance. There have been too many unfortunate events surrounding Mrs Doolittle for the application of chance.

"Let me go through the facts of the case, leaving out the interpretations and comments by the accused:

1. Her husband, Mr Doolittle, stood to gain a large fortune from a rich uncle who married a young wife rather late in life;  
2. The said wife of the uncle suffered from a long illness, before she is able to provide him with issue and finally dies just when the Doolittles announce their pending nuptials;  
3. The accused claims that said uncle treats her like a daughter, though there is no evidence of this from his known actions. He clearly is not interested in her welfare as he failed to come to her defense at the trial;  
4. The neighbours of the accused, while she and her husband were living in Barking, say that she does everything to blacken the name of her brother in law who is first in line to her father in law's inheritance;  
5. The accused and her new husband move away from Barking shortly after their wedding;  
6. The previous churchwarden is struck down with a mysterious illness and the post offered immediately to a newcomer: a position of some standing in the parish and so a boon to any local businessman;  
7. The usually placid Mr Doolittle catches his wife in a compromising position, thus threatening her standing as a person of integrity and any inheritance that might come her way as his wife, and shortly afterwards dies of poisoning;  
8. The accused does not elaborate on what she hears and observes of the Rev Hart and allows us to come to our own conclusions;  
9. The Vicar, who was discovered in a compromising position with Mr Doolittle's wife and was the closest witness to the death of Mr Doolittle, was found dead shortly afterwards;  
10. The accused was seen fleeing the scene following the untimely death of the Vicar;  
11. That the accused does not plead her own innocence until the world's greatest detective is called onto the case, allowing him to deduce her innocence;  
12. The accused dresses and speaks as a woman of a much higher class than the one she was born into.

"Not conclusive I admit, Watson, but I'm coming to the conclusion that the one factor all the above facts have in common is the accused and each event led very much to her betterment. I surmise that she is a woman of some ambition and has done all she can to ensure that she is moving towards a life of a much higher status than the one she left in Barking. Perhaps the family were onto her and she moved to avoid a scandal or from further alienating her husband from his inheritance. The choice of Hammersmith is a step up from Barking, but not one beyond their means. Plenty of opportunities for a skilled baker in Kings Street.

"The authorities, on my own evidence, have enough reasonable doubt over the death of the Vicar to also question whether she is responsible for the death of the husband. The police are leaning towards the conclusion that she killed her husband but that the Rev Hart committed suicide. I fear that the jury, however, may lean otherwise and conclude that the Rev Hart killed himself over his guilt at dispatching his rival, Mr Doolittle.

"I have an alternative scenario for the killings: that the accused tips poison into the challis once she herself has taken communion and so kills her husband, hoping to implicate the Rev Hart. The victim could have been looking at either, when he said his last fateful words. Enough doubt for most juries faced with sending such a beautiful woman to her death. Maybe she really was having a liaison with the Vicar and she worked with him to dispatch her unfortunate husband and then decided her lover was too much a liability and dispatched him too."

Holmes sat forward in his chair and helped himself to a glass of the fine Scotch that we had first tasted on the evening when Holmes had initially brought the case to my attention.

"Maybe the Rev Hart genuinely did take the easy way out when she confronted him," I said in the lull, "Or that she threatened to expose him or leave him."

"Yes, maybe,"" said Holmes. And now we're back to guessing again, Watson. You see my dilemma?" He shrugged distractedly. "I made my reputation on the thoroughness of my investigations and my ability to distance myself from the emotion of the situation and the various players ... and yet, here I am, at this stage in my career, allowing myself to be manipulated by a calculating young women." Holmes obviously saw my shock at his words and that I was about to intervene on her behalf, or his, and stopped my interjection with a wave of his hand.

"Yes, Watson, I do believe her to be calculating. Cold and calculating and in control of her actions all through. I have not come across anyone, other than Professor James Moriarty, who is capable of such deceit and callousness towards their fellow man. Killing her own husband is one thing, many an English woman would dearly like the chance to do the same, but to take a gamble with the life of whoever would drink from that cup after him if the poison were not as fast acting as it was - that's not quite human. I've not yet come across another woman that callous, and there are plenty that come close once crossed by a man, but none who'd plan from the start these terrible deeds."

"What has changed your mind so desperately?" I asked.

"Upon digging deeper into the case, I unearthed several witnesses who will testify to Mrs Doolittle being observed to pick wild flowers on numerous occasions and evidence of roots and berries being condensed on the self same range as her husband used for his baking. The strange dilation of the pupils that was observed by members of the St Peter congregation and by anyone who now visits Mrs Doolittle in her cell." He paused in his telling and seemed to be noting the realisation that struck me at that point. How had I not missed the strange blackness of Mrs Doolittle's eyes? A blackness which could be accomplished by application of small amounts of deadly nightshade, the very same plant, which you said yourself earlier, produced all the symptoms displayed in her husband at his death."

Holmes downed the dregs of his glass and looked almost pleading across the room at me.

"Either explanation is equally appealing as unappealing as the other. Neither is conclusive, both are explicable with the scant evidence I have been given to work with. If the case were not so imminent, then there would not be the urgency for me to decide her fate." I raised my eyebrows and was preparing to challenge my friend's power over life and death when he stopped me with a sweeping gesture. "And it is in my power to save or damn, Watson, given my reputation and what I can deduce from the smallest of clues. The judge would give more than the usual weight to any expert witness from my lips.

"So, my friend, what to do? Do I save the life of a much wronged innocent? Or do I do what I can to rid the world of evil and send her to her certain death? Which would be the worse sin? To allow a woman who might be innocent to hang or to take a leap of faith and allow someone with such total disregard for the sanctity of life, to live and kill again?"

I pondered the relative evils and could appreciate Holmes' plight. And then it hit me. Few problems are black and white, right or wrong.

"Why not a third option, Holmes?" I suggested hesitantly. "Surely there's a lesser charge that will keep her from the public and yet not end in her demise?"

For the first time in a long while, a smile that reached his eyes returned to the detective's face. "Brilliant, Watson. An uncomplicated and yet elegant solution. Cannot think why that did not occur to me. Sometimes it takes a simpler mind to see what the complex one misses."

I have known Holmes for so long that do not take his statements as others might and knew that he was indeed praising rather than denigrating my processes.

And that is how Mrs Doolittle came to be a long term resident of Holloway Prison for the manslaughter of her parish priest while of unsound mind, following the cleric's murder of her own dear husband. She was there for so long that she was one of the first inmates when it became necessary for it become a female only gaol in 1903. Holmes takes some credit for that necessity, in that he gave evidence at many trials of women prisoners during the years leading up to the change. He boasts that half the inmates of most prisons owe something to him for their residence, but he seems to take a particular satisfaction in putting away those who give the fairer sex a bad name.

I have reason to believe that Holmes still visits her from time to time from odd things that he drops about his movements. Chambers has said as much when I see him periodically when he fears that his children have the whooping cough - which turns out to be slight chills as likely as not.

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**_"It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts."_**** ― Sherlock Holmes **

The Widow's Tale is one of the strangest and most inconclusive of the cases that I had the pleasure of working on with my friend and erstwhile colleague. I have been unable to publish this curious narrative previously but since the protagonist has died this past winter I see no harm in doing so now.

It must be said that the widow Doolittle had a profound effect on all who came in contact with her and she invoked great passion. When I myself had had some prolonged contact with her I felt the fervour of my youthful self and sought to rail against the authorities and seek justice for this more wronged of women. At other times I recognised in myself and unhealthy obsession with her and did not yearn to seek out her company. There was something dark about her that I cannot fathom, a coldness of her manner and detachment from humankind. I could empathise with Holmes' own feelings of confusion and hesitancy to make a judgement, though I was less inclined to damn her on the evidence of my senses.

The burden of proof that Holmes put upon himself to proof her guilt or innocence was profound. But stranger still that such evidence was in short supply in this case. None came forward to give evidence either in her favour or against her and all interviewed by Holmes were reticent and some refused to speak to him at all. Mrs Doolittle herself did nothing to defend herself and little to help Mr Holmes in his enquiries. My friend had so little to go on and such a short space of time to come to a conclusion and offer his expert opinion that he became most distressed during and following the trial and verdict. I became aware that he had returned to some of his old habits and addictions shortly thereafter.

I also believe that Holmes came to an agreement with the authorities that, if there were any danger of her release, the prisoner would be incarcerated in a lunatic asylum until the time of her death. This turned out to be more just than I had first supposed, though it did not prevent a further deaths, including her own. The Governor of Holloway prison was observed outside Mrs Doolittle's cell by several inmates who reported him as having wild eyes and raving incoherently about the devil. He had just informed the prisoner that a further plea, for her release, would not be heard. The poor man died some moments later in paroxysms of agony.

When they came to take her to Bedlam, they found her laughing like the devil himself and drinking from a small bottle that it appeared she had secreting in her skirts. She died some moments later, wracked with spasms but laughing hysterically still, there being nothing that could be done for her.

And so ends what I am able to tell the reader about the Case of the Widow Doolittle. And a unsatisfying tale it is, where Holmes does not triumph and he was unable to prevent further deaths as he intended. I regret the part that I myself played in this latest tragedy and so now reveal her story to the world in the hope that telling the truth about her evil nature my feelings of guilt will lessen.


End file.
